2025-01-19-世界银行-非正规企业的竞争是否鼓励正规企业获得质量证书_（英）_74页_1mb

Summary of Policy Research Working Paper 11023

This paper examines how competition from informal firms influences formal small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) likelihood of obtaining quality certificates, such as ISO standards, in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The study uses data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys and employs logistic regression with cell averages to address endogeneity.

Key Findings:

• A one standard deviation increase in informal competition raises the probability of formal manufacturing SMEs getting a quality certificate by 2.9 to 3.6 percentage points.
• This positive effect is stronger in countries with weaker rule of law and more stringent business regulations, supporting the "legalist" model of informality.

Methodology:

• Data from 16 LAC countries, focusing on formal SMEs.
• Controls include firm characteristics, country-level factors, and time/industry fixed effects.
• Endogeneity tests (cell averages, falsification tests) strengthen the causal inference.

Policy Implications:

• Informal competition can motivate formal firms to adopt quality improvements for certifications, potentially offsetting negative effects of formalization.
• Policies should consider the business environment to maximize positive spillovers from informal to formal sectors, and distinguish between informal firm types to design optimal interventions.

Conclusion:
The findings suggest that informal competition acts as a catalyst for quality enhancement in formal SMEs, especially in challenging regulatory contexts. These results imply nuanced policy approaches, but extendability to other regions requires further research.